Increased negative behavior

I am sure some of this has to do with the storm, and the fact that we are displaced at my ILs.

DS spends most of his time here anyway though, since they are his child care.

However, it seems like it has almost become a daily battle..........frequent tantrums----no rages are a better description-----on a daily basis.

Several times a day.

He also has gotten more agressive towards everyone, from his young cousins to his adult family members. (i.e. random hitting, biting, pulling hair).

Another thing we've noticed is that consequences do not seem to bother him and he often has responses that are not at all appropriate to the situation at hand. (i.e. FIL will discipline him and he will laugh or sit under the table eating goldfish crackers).

Bedtime is a nightmare, as it can take forever to get him to go to sleep and often he is back to his rage.

Where would you rec beginning? He has a behavior person 2x a week.

DH and I, and many of my family think he needs to be on some kind of medication to calm him down. However, I am hearing mixed things about this since he's only going to be 4.

It is also to the point where he is pushing a lot of us over the edge where we need to seperate ourselves from him, so I know this is a sign that this is not working.

The hard part is I don't feel like a lot of people take this seriously, because in school he is an angel.

We are willing to accept that maybe as his family, WE are doing something wrong, but not sure where to start.

Thanks for any advice you can recommend.

Re: Increased negative behavior

I bet the change in routine is really throwing him off. Its hard for them! I had one of my students go into a crisis on Thursday (epic from what I hear) on Thursday because I was absent. Its so hard for them to understand change, you know? I don't know what to do about medication or really know what to do in this situation. I know with school, it works for me with negative behaviors to calm them down in the moment and then give lots and lots of opportunities to get positive attention. Maybe a nice mommy/baby date soon?

Re: Increased negative behavior

I can't really offer advise, except to be consistent. Knowing what will happen is usually what works for DS. He went through a similar stage at the end of the summer with the hitting and biting. He was doing it to his new teachers as well. I figured it was because of a change of schools and new people. He was testing them I'm sure. They passed because he is not aggressive any more. If he bit, I put soap in his mouth, there was no warning. I know some people will disagree, but it worked. He hated it and after a couple of times you could see on his face that he really was trying to do something else rather than bite. Hitting is hard to ignore and stay calm, and sometimes we don't. It only makes things worse to give a reaction. It has gotten a lot better but it is still there on occasion. Bedtime is a routine. It always has been. I give DS a warning that after his TV program it's time for bed. When the credits come on, I turn the TV off and we go upstairs. We was, go to the bathroom, read 2 stories and go to bed. There are times it is not that exact routine but because it mostly is, he doesn't give me a problem to go to sleep. Besides if I let him stay up later, he usually puts himself to bed when he is tired.

Re: Increased negative behavior

Thanks ladies.

He has made comments about wanting to go to his house so I am sure that is a BIG part of it.

We stopped by yesterday to change the cat litter and he was upset because it was cold inside.

So far today, he has been really good.

We took a lot of his toys away earlier this week for outbursts and I decided to give them back to him this morning.

He has been playing quietly.

Also, no cousins around to seek the negative attention from.

Re: Increased negative behavior